PAT BENNETT DISAGREES with the notion Waterford had a bad season in 2022.
Bennett, who served alongside Davy Fitzgerald in his previous tenures with Waterford and Wexford, thinks the returning Déise manager is inheriting a panel in a stronger position than many think – even if Davy must do without two of Bennett’s three inter-county hurling sons next year, with Kieran in Australia and Shane set to join him.
“Kieran is working away and Shane is heading the second of February,” said Pat, who is heading into his second year as a selector with the Kerry hurling team.
“Kieran planned to go for a year or two. From talking to him, he’ll probably be back in a year. Shane could be gone for three months, could be gone for a year. They are young fellas, they have to go to enjoy it.
“Stephen is in there. Training well. Hips are good. In fairness, the one thing Davy does with those guys is with the injuries. He treats them, get the injuries right, and go at it 100%.
“There is no such thing as training injured. You can’t do that anymore. Guys have to be 100%.
“With us in Kerry, if guys are injured they do something else. If you have a problem with the legs, go boxing. Problem with the hand, go running.”
Bennett has seen it up close, the reasons why players may opt out of inter-county panels, as Shane did previously in 2020.
“Shane played minor three years. Think about it, not just senior. We are an hour and 15 [minutes] from training.
“Shane was working as an electrician in Cork so what he would have to do, he went straight from minor into senior and U20. He has been at it ten, 11 years. The problem is they do that kind of driving, get home 11.30, 12, and up at 5.30 to go working in Cork.
“It’s hard on 21-, 22-year-olds. When all their friends are going drinking, they can’t go drinking. I get it. I do get it.
“I remember talking to a manager and he said, ‘I need to get Shane back’. I said, ‘Number one, I am his father. I will back him whatever he does. Do I want him to go back in? Of course, I do.’ And he did.
“But look, Shane likes the soccer. He’s playing a lot of soccer and enjoying it. I think if you are playing sport and enjoying it, go do that.”
It’s not just Waterford Bennett believes are in a better position than many think. He believes in Fitzgerald they are getting a better manager than the 2008-to-2011 version that led them to an All-Ireland final.
“Every manager has to be improving every year and changing every year. Davy is a totally different manager from 2008, ‘09, and ‘10 to now. Different animal. To me, he is an unbelievable manager. I rate him very highly, just because he can change it. He is not afraid to change it.
“Even from talking to him, if you are talking to him and say something, he never once would say, ‘No, forget that.’ It would be, ‘Let me think about it.’ Then he would come back and say I might agree with it or mightn’t agree with it but he would have the conversation. That is the sign of a good manager.”
As for the 2022 debrief, Bennett sees their early exit as an issue of form rather than class.
“Everybody keeps saying Waterford had a bad season. I don’t see it. They had a bad day. They beat Tipp playing poorly, were ok against Limerick, and lost to Cork by four points playing poorly.
“If they had beaten Cork they would be in the Championship and it probably would have been a different ballgame but they lost.
“All of a sudden, once they knew they lost to Cork, it was game over. Cork weren’t going to get caught. They were always going to beat Tipperary.
“I think they [Waterford] had it in the back of their heads going to Clare, we are done here.
“You have to realise they were at it three years non-stop. It’s hard going, three years non-stop at the level Liam [Cahill] was asking of them. Physically. Every which way. I just think they hit a barrier at that stage and once they lost to Cork, it went flat.
“Up to that, they won a National League. We have only won three or four of them. There are three championships you can win, Munster, League, and All-Ireland, and this Munster Cup [the pre-season provincial league]. That’s it. If you win one of them, other than Limerick at this stage, you’d be very happy.
“I was at all their games. I know the story with them. I just think it wasn’t as bad as people say. They don’t go away. Tadhg de Búrca, Jamie Barron, they don’t become bad hurlers overnight. You have a bad day.
“Look at the World Cup; Brazil, are they bad? They are not but they got beaten. Some teams go out get beaten 6-0 and the next day, they come back. Not a bad side, they had a bad day.
“Cork were up for it more and the lads got caught. What was brilliant was they could go away. The likes of Cárthach [Daly] went off to Boston. They went to Australia, went everywhere for three or four months, got it all out of the system, and came back fresher.”
And what of Kerry hurling? Well, that’s a story for another day.